Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

The Blog for Monday, August 03, 2009

"How does Rubio possibly win?"

"How does Rubio possibly win? Certainly not by running more TV ads. For Rubio, the strategy is message versus money, ideas versus name ID, positions versus popularity. And he is generating a buzz among the Republicans he does reach, showing charisma, strong speaking skills and a firm knowledge of issues facing the federal government."

He appeals to the base of the party with solid conservative positions on social issues, government spending and taxes. While he doesn't attack Crist while campaigning, he clearly sets himself up as the alternative for Republicans who believe Crist has gone too far toward the political middle, particularly by promoting President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package.

The question is whether that will be enough to seriously compete with Crist in the Aug. 24, 2010, primary.

Even Rubio acknowledges the conventional wisdom that he can't beat Crist, and then he'll express confidence that he will prevail if voters have a chance to compare the two candidates.

While Crist avoids talking about federal issues or gives essentially non-answers to questions about health care and other topics being debated in Washington, Rubio talks to anyone he can - and spending as little money as he can doing it.

"Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust - California, Arizona and Florida - stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties." "Foreclosures stabilize in key states".

Bill Cotterell:

At last week's Cabinet meeting, Department of Revenue Director Lisa Echeverri said tax collections for the last quarter of the past fiscal year are slightly ahead of estimates. She was cautious and hesitant, emphasizing that the bump was barely a blip on a budget of $66 billion, but Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist coaxed her to repeat that it was the first good news in nearly three years.

The Palm Beach Post editorial board urges caution: "The state collected $36 million more in revenue than forecasters had expected. Collections for April and May also beat projections. Those three months made up the last quarter of the state's fiscal year, so Florida finished strong, right? Not really." ""Expect more for Florida.

"The Help Louisiana and Alaska at the Expense of Florida Act"

The Palm Beach Post editors:

The bill is labeled "The Domestic Energy Security Act of 2009," but the more accurate name would be "The Help Louisiana and Alaska at the Expense of Florida Act of 2009."

Filed last week, the bill from Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the latest attempt to move oil and natural gas drilling closer to Florida's west coast. In June, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., proposed an amendment to the energy bill that would end the moratorium - negotiated in 2006 by Florida's senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Mel Martinez - that keeps drilling at least 125 miles from the Gulf Coast. The Landrieu-Murkowski bill would go further than the Dorgan amendment. ...

Whenever Florida politicians warn that closer drilling would threaten the state's beaches, energy industry lobbyists respond that Florida would make lots of money. In fact, just because drilling would take place near Florida doesn't mean that Florida would get most of the money. The Landrieu-Murkowski bill includes the four other Gulf states - Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi. Also, states can use federal drilling revenue for limited purposes, primarily to restore coastline damage caused by drilling.

"Florida House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon is already drawing some fire from an upstart Democratic challenger for his legislative seat. Amy Mercado, a Democratic activist and president of the Orange County Democratic Hispanic Caucus, has filed to run for Cannon's District 35 seat next year, and put out a press release Monday calling on the Winter Park Republican to call on former House Speaker Ray Sansom to resign." "Cannon's 2010 challenger takes a shot over Sansom".

"State insurance regulators are looking into whether some Florida health plans have been using a flawed fee schedule to pay out-of-network doctors for their members' treatments. If so, patients have been shouldering more than their fair share of the bill for more than a decade." "Florida regulators investigate health plans for possible overcharges".

"Immigration reform"

Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Immigration reform is important for Florida and the nation. The state's population of illegal immigrants is estimated at close to 1 million, the nation's at 10 million to 12 million. A Zogby International poll in April found that 84 percent of Florida voters believe that illegal immigrants have a negative impact on the state budget." "Administration shifts tactics on volatile immigration issue".

"A big deal"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Crist's office said he 'does support using all of the federal stimulus money allocated to Florida for as many projects as possible.' If Tallahassee can make that happen, more good projects could be completed and the number of jobs created could exceed the original estimate - all for the original total price. For such a big number and such a big need, that would be a big deal." "Keep the stimulus savings".

"State Farm and Citizens face months of scrutiny"

"Heading into the most active months of the hurricane season, upcoming regulatory decisions will radically change Florida's property-insurance market and determine the future for millions of consumers. Pending before Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty are negotiations and decisions about the state's two largest property insurers, State Farm Florida and government-run Citizens Property Insurance. The two are separate but inextricably entwined." "Changing winds aim at insurance".